NEW BETHLEHEM — After a very quiet first half, visiting Brockway eventually got its running game going and won its first-ever District 9 Class A playoff game with a 24-10 opening-round win at Redbank Valley Friday night.

The win lands Brockway (8-3) in next week’s semifinals against Saturday’s Port Allegany-Union game. Brockway just lost to Port Allegany, 56-27, in last week’s Allegheny Mountain League championship game.

The only points of the first half came on Redbank Valley’s safety with 38 seconds left in the first half. Chad Melillo was tackled in the end zone on a reverse play.

From there, the Rovers got a big jolt when Kyle Braun returned an interception 42 yards for a touchdown 41 seconds into the second half. The Bulldogs (6-5) would take a 10-7 late in the third quarter on their only touchdown of the game on Mark Strothers’ 7-yard run at the 3:01 mark.

But Brockway owned the fourth quarter and scored the game’s final 17 points. Melillo put the Rovers ahead for good at 14-10 with a 7-yard run with 10:21 remaining. Philip Esposito booted a 25-yard field goal at the 7:46 and Tom Vervoort put the game away with a 56-yard run with 4:01 left.

Vervoort led the Rovers with 180 yards on 22 carries while Melillo gained 89 yards on 16 carries. Brockway outgained Redbank Valley, 277-167. Strothers rushed for 79 yards on eight carries. Bulldogs quarterback Jake Dougherty completed 8 of 21 passes for 45 yards and was intercepted twice, both times by the Rovers’ Kyle Braun.

Brockway, a longtime Class AA team, moved down to Class A this year. The last time the Rovers played in a Class A playoff game was back in 1994 when they lost in the semifinals to Smethport, 15-0.

Editor's note - Special thanks to Steve Smail for providing some of the information for this story

BROCKWAY 24, REDBANK VALLEY 10

Score By Quarters

Brockway                   0          0          7          17        -           24

Redbank Valley         0          2          8          0          -           10

Scoring Summary

Second Quarter

RV—Safety (Chad Melillo tackled in end zone), :38.

Third Quarter

B—Kyle Braun 42 interception return, (Phil Esposito kick), 11:19.

RV—Mark Strothers 51 run (Keaton Delp pass from Jake Dougherty), 3:01.

Fourth Quarter

B—Chad Melillo 7 run (Esposito kick), 10:21.

B—Esposito 25 field goal, 7:46.

B—Tom Vervoort 56 run (Esposito kick), 4:01.

B                     RV

First Downs                13                    8

Rushes-Yards              53-278             29-122

Passing Yards             -1                     45

Comp.-Att.-Int.           1-5-0                8-21-2

Total Yardage             277                  167

Punts-Average                        4-22.8              5-37

Fumbles-lost                1-1                   1-1

Penalties-Yards           4-40                 4-40

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing - Brockway: Tom Vervoort 22-180, Chad Melillo 16-89, Kyle Braun 11-11, Levi Miller 3-(-1), Team 1- (-1). Redbank Valley: Kyle Lee 8-45, Mark Strothers 8-79, Keaton Delp 4-13, Jake Dougherty 7- (-18), Caleb Smith 1-12, Team 1-(-9).

Passing - Brockway: Kyle Braun 1-for-5, minus-1 yards. Redbank Valley: Jake Dougherty 8-for-21, 45 yards, 2 Ints.

Receiving - Brockway: Levi Miller 1-(-1). Redbank Valley: Mark Strothers 5-30, Kyle Schrecongost 1-4, Dean Sesco 1-5, Keaton Delp 1-6.

Interceptions - Brockway: Kyle Braun 2.